Espoo, Finland 05 September 2017 -- Valmet will deliver a new gravity feed chipper to Sappi Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd Ngodwana. The upgrade targets are to increase the chipping capacity, to maintain or improve chip quality and minimize wood losses. The chipper will be delivered and installed in May 2018 and the start-up is planned for the beginning of June 2018.

The order was included in Valmet's second quarter 2017 orders received. The value of the order will not be disclosed.

"Valmet came up with a unique solution to 'swop' out the existing chipper with a new larger chipper by not requiring any major concrete works changes allowing for a short shut-down duration to install the new chipper, thus enabling minimal operation down time," says Ryno Eksteen, Senior Regional Project Manager at Sappi.

"South Africa has been a successful market area for Valmet's wood handling business and with this delivery we continue our positive trend. The Valmet sales team concentrated on optimizing the solution for a demanding raw material and minimizing the payback time for Sappi," says Jussi Taskinen, Manager R&D, Product Portfolio & Strategy at Valmet"

Details about the order

The order consists of a Camura GS1050 chipper with auxiliaries and a screen extension, including machinery, erection, commissioning, training and start-up supervision. Mechanical installation is also carried out by Valmet.

About Sappi Ngodwana mill

The Ngodwana mill has been in operation since 1966 and entered the dissolving wood pulp market in 2013. The mill produces paper grade pulp for own and for market consumption, as well as newsprint, containerboard and dissolving wood pulp. The mill produces 330,000 tons of paper pulp for own consumption, 210,000 tons of dissolving wood pulp and 380,000 tons of paper (newsprint and kraft linerboard used for packaging) per annum. 70% of the mill's product is exported and the balance is used locally.

Valmet is the leading global developer and supplier of process technologies, automation and services for the pulp, paper and energy industries. We aim to become the global champion in serving our customers.

Valmet's strong technology offering includes pulp mills, tissue, board and paper production lines, as well as power plants for bioenergy production. Our advanced services and automation solutions improve the reliability and performance of our customers' processes and enhance the effective utilization of raw materials and energy.

Valmet's net sales in 2016 were approximately EUR 2.9 billion. Our 12,000 professionals around the world work close to our customers and are committed to moving our customers' performance forward - every day. Valmet's head office is in Espoo, Finland and its shares are listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki.

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